DOCSLIB.ORG

Native Shrubs Are Backbone of Landscapes

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Native Shrubs Are Backbone of Landscapes used in small groupings. Spicebush NATIVE SHRUBS thrives in full sun but is acceptable in partial sun. It is a good compan- ion to pine or at the edge of a beech- maple-oak woods. It has been re- ARE BACKBONE ported to be difficult to transplant because of the coarse roots but we have had 98% success when plant- OF LANDSCAPES ing in moist, well-drained, sandy loam. During the spring the light green leaves are oblong, 3 to 5 inches in length. This lime-green Allspice, Spicebush, Bayberry, and Snowberry foliage of summer is transformed into a rich yellow during fall. This fall color is spectacular. Spicebush BY DOUGLAS CHAPMAN, "Horticulturist, Dow Gardens, Midland, Ml" flowers very early in the season (late April in Central Michigan). Native shrubs should provide the spring. It grows in a wide range of These thread-like flowers, borne in backbone for home and commer- soil conditions, thriving in moist, clusters near the terminal, are cial landscapes. Four native shrubs well-drained loamy soils but yellowish-green in color. The fruit which thrive when grown in full adapts to well-drained, almost which is scarlet and shaped some- sun or light shade which provide a droughty conditions. It has darker what like raspberries can be spec- real diversity to the landscape in- green leaves during the summer tacular along with the fall foliar clude Carolina Allspice, Spice- months, becoming a pale yellow- color. This native is underused and bush, Northern Bayberry, and green in the fall but does not de- should be grown more in the trade. Snowberry. These natives are rela- velop effective fall color. The two- Lastly, the leaves and stems are tively free of insect and disease inch dark reddish-brown, star-like fragrant, just one additional reason problems, will grow in a wide flowers appear sporadically from to consider culture of this outstand- range of soil conditions, and pro- late May through June. This star ing plant. vide color and uniqueness at times shape is a unique aesthetic trait. Northern Bayberry (Myrica when other shrubs are just back- Further, these flowers are very pensylvanica) is native from Nova ground. fragrant. The urn-shaped fruit Scotia to Pennsylvania mostly Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus (capsule-like at maturity) is not very along the coast. It is very salt- florida) is native from Virginia to effective. This shrub is outstanding tolerant (cholide). Bayberry has a Florida but grows acceptably as far in native plantings as specimens in long history or association with the north as Boston and Central Michi- the home landscape and mass development of our country. It was gan. It grows well in sun or shade plantings in large or commercial used from colonial times to present but is usually slightly taller when landscapes. in the making of highly aromatic grown in shady conditions. It is a Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) is candles (Bayberry candles). This dense round shrub, reaching 6 to 8 an outstanding shrub, 6 to 10 feet in semi-evergreen is perfectly hardy feet in height and 6 to 10 feet in height and width. It is native from when planted in sandy, well- width at maturity but in northern Maine to Florida. Lindera is a na- drained soils. Dirr reports it will ex- areas it seldom grows over 6 feet in tive shrub which is effective in the ist in the clay soils of Central Illi- height and width. Calycanthus can home or commercial landscape, in nois. It should be transplanted be transplanted easily during the naturalized plantings, specimen, or Continues on page 32 Carolina Allspice has reddish-brown flowers. Spicebush is a good companion to pine or as an edge of woods. Shrubs from page 31 balled and burlapped during early Common Snowberry (Sympho- prefers full to medium sun. This spring. Bayberry is an outstanding ricorpos aJbusj has been reported to shrub when found as understory or shrub when used in mass plantings be of little landscape value, but a border plant in large area land- associated with pine or broad- when noted in the fall with fruit, it scapes, commercial landscapes, leaved evergreens as it has similar is unique yet exciting. This natural- parks, or home landscapes is excit- requirements. Myrica spreads from ized plant was brought to this coun- ing. Further, Snowberry has few or root suckers and if planted in full or try during the late 1800's and can no catastrophic insect or disease partial sun will thrive. It will rap- presently be found growing in the problems. idly die out in 50% or more shade. Canadian Maritime Provinces to The four above-mentioned na- The leaves are a rich dark green. Virginia and west to Minnesota. tive shrubs are underused in to- They are oblong, IV2 to 4 inches in This dense shrub at maturity has a day's landscapes. They are par- length. Bayberry flowers are not somewhat upright habit, reaching 3 ticularly effective when used in particularly effective but the grey to 5 feet in height and 2 to 4 feet in naturalized plantings as specimen fruit which literally lines the one- width. The leaves are opposite, shrubs or in mass borders. They are year old growth can be exciting somewhat honeysuckle in appear- usually most effectively grown in during the fall. This fruit is usually ance, being a deep blue-green dur- full or partial sun. They have no profuse on one-year old growth. ing the summer with no effective catastrophic insect and disease The foliage or branches, when fall color. The perfect pink flowers problems, are relatively easy to crushed, are extremely fragrant. are borne in terminal clusters dur- transplant, and will generally de- Although Bayberry has been re- ing June. The white berry-drupe crease maintenance requirements ported to reach 5 to 12 feet in height fruit are borne in clusters. They are for most landscapes. They are not and width, we usually find it rarely interesting and afford an opportu- only exciting for their flower color over 4 to 6 feet in height. Because nity for one to truly enjoy the land- or fruit but also Spicebush, Caro- Myrica spreads by root suckers, it scape. Snowberry can be planted lina Allspice, and Bayberry are ex- tends to form large clumps and is in a wide range of soil conditions citing when the leaves and stems most effective when used in mass from sand to clay but prefers well- are crushed, giving off a unique plantings, be it for individual home drained situations. Further, it is fragrance. These plants truly stim- landscapes or commercial land- a good companion plant when ulate all our sense while adding lit- scapes. planted at the edges of woods as it tle to maintenance costs. WTT Does leaf-tip shredding make your turf brown? Switch to fine-leafed Pennfine Perennial Ryegrass. Bred for softer fibers that take a smooth, clean cut, Pennfine has set the standard for mowability against tinq which other ryegrasses are compared. Get Pennfine, the most widely used fine- Gouncil leafed perennial ryegrass. It's available just about everywhere. Pennfine Perennial Ryegrass, P.O. Box 923, Minneapolis, MN 55440 We support NMC and ask our growers and suppliers to include the voluntary contribution on invoices to us. Circle No. 125 on Reader Inquiry Card WEEDS. TREES & TURF/DECEMBER 1981 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Native Plants for Your Backyard
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Native Plants for Your Backyard Native plants of the Southeastern United States are more diverse in number and kind than in most other countries, prized for their beauty worldwide. Our native plants are an integral part of a healthy ecosystem, providing the energy that sustains our forests and wildlife, including important pollinators and migratory birds. By “growing native” you can help support native wildlife. This helps sustain the natural connections that have developed between plants and animals over thousands of years. Consider turning your lawn into a native garden. You’ll help the local environment and often use less water and spend less time and money maintaining your yard if the plants are properly planted. The plants listed are appealing to many species of wildlife and will look attractive in your yard. To maximize your success with these plants, match the right plants with the right site conditions (soil, pH, sun, and moisture). Check out the resources on the back of this factsheet for assistance or contact your local extension office for soil testing and more information about these plants. Shrubs Trees Vines Wildflowers Grasses American beautyberry Serviceberry Trumpet creeper Bee balm Big bluestem Callicarpa americana Amelanchier arborea Campsis radicans Monarda didyma Andropogon gerardii Sweetshrub Redbud Carolina jasmine Fire pink Little bluestem Calycanthus floridus Cercis canadensis Gelsemium sempervirens Silene virginica Schizachyrium scoparium Blueberry Red buckeye Crossvine Cardinal flower
    [Show full text]
  • State of New York City's Plants 2018
    STATE OF NEW YORK CITY’S PLANTS 2018 Daniel Atha & Brian Boom © 2018 The New York Botanical Garden All rights reserved ISBN 978-0-89327-955-4 Center for Conservation Strategy The New York Botanical Garden 2900 Southern Boulevard Bronx, NY 10458 All photos NYBG staff Citation: Atha, D. and B. Boom. 2018. State of New York City’s Plants 2018. Center for Conservation Strategy. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY. 132 pp. STATE OF NEW YORK CITY’S PLANTS 2018 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 INTRODUCTION 10 DOCUMENTING THE CITY’S PLANTS 10 The Flora of New York City 11 Rare Species 14 Focus on Specific Area 16 Botanical Spectacle: Summer Snow 18 CITIZEN SCIENCE 20 THREATS TO THE CITY’S PLANTS 24 NEW YORK STATE PROHIBITED AND REGULATED INVASIVE SPECIES FOUND IN NEW YORK CITY 26 LOOKING AHEAD 27 CONTRIBUTORS AND ACKNOWLEGMENTS 30 LITERATURE CITED 31 APPENDIX Checklist of the Spontaneous Vascular Plants of New York City 32 Ferns and Fern Allies 35 Gymnosperms 36 Nymphaeales and Magnoliids 37 Monocots 67 Dicots 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report, State of New York City’s Plants 2018, is the first rankings of rare, threatened, endangered, and extinct species of what is envisioned by the Center for Conservation Strategy known from New York City, and based on this compilation of The New York Botanical Garden as annual updates thirteen percent of the City’s flora is imperiled or extinct in New summarizing the status of the spontaneous plant species of the York City. five boroughs of New York City. This year’s report deals with the City’s vascular plants (ferns and fern allies, gymnosperms, We have begun the process of assessing conservation status and flowering plants), but in the future it is planned to phase in at the local level for all species.
    [Show full text]
  • Hydrastis Canadensis L.) in Pennsylvania: Explaining and Predicting Species Distribution in a Northern Edge of Range State
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/694802; this version posted July 8, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Title: Associated habitat and suitability modeling of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) in Pennsylvania: explaining and predicting species distribution in a northern edge of range state. *1Grady H. Zuiderveen, 1Xin Chen, 1,2Eric P. Burkhart, 1,3Douglas A. Miller 1Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 2Shavers Creek Environmental Center, 3400 Discovery Rd, Petersburg, PA 16669 3Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 *telephone: (616) 822-8685; email: [email protected] bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/694802; this version posted July 8, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. Abstract Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) is a well-known perennial herb indigenous to forested areas in eastern North America. Owing to conservation concerns including wild harvesting for medicinal markets, habitat loss and degradation, and an overall patchy and often inexplicable absence in many regions, there is a need to better understand habitat factors that help determine the presence and distribution of goldenseal populations. In this study, flora and edaphic factors associated with goldenseal populations throughout Pennsylvania—a state near the northern edge of its range—were documented and analyzed to identify habitat indicators and provide possible in situ stewardship and farming (especially forest-based farming) guidance.
    [Show full text]
  • Wood Anatomy of Calycanthaceae Sherwin Carlquist
    Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Volume 10 | Issue 3 Article 6 1983 Wood Anatomy of Calycanthaceae Sherwin Carlquist Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/aliso Part of the Botany Commons Recommended Citation Carlquist, Sherwin (1983) "Wood Anatomy of Calycanthaceae," Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany: Vol. 10: Iss. 3, Article 6. Available at: http://scholarship.claremont.edu/aliso/vol10/iss3/6 ALISO 10(3), 1983, pp. 427-441 WOOD ANATOMY OF CALYCANTHACEAE: ECOLOGICAL AND SYSTEMATIC IMPLICATIONS Sherwin Carlquist INTRODUCTION Wood anatomy of Calycanthaceae has not been studied as a unit. Wood features ofthe family have been summarized by Metcalfe and Chalk (1950); various authors have mentioned one or more traits in studies dealing with Calycanthaceae (e.g., Wilson 1979) or other families (e.g., Garratt 1934). In view of recent interest in Idiospermum australiense (Diels) Blake, a new comparative study is needed. One goal of the present study is clarification of relationships of Idiospermum to Calycanthus and Chimonanthus. Wood anatomy of Idiospermum was described by Blake ( 1972) and Wilson ( 1979); a new description is offered here to provide more quantitative data. De­ scriptions of the wood of Calycanthus and Chimonanthus provided here incorporate such quantitative data, but also modify earlier descriptions with respect to some important qualitative features. Material of the recently de­ scribed genus Sinocalycanthus (Cheng and Chan 1964) was not available, although the description of that genus suggests it is not strongly different from Calycanthus or Chimonanthus. The present study incorporates material of Calycanthus floridus L. var. floridus, C.
    [Show full text]
  • The Herb Society of America Essential Facts for Spicebush Lindera Benzoin
    The Herb Society of America Essential Facts for Spicebush Lindera benzoin Family: Lauraceae Latin Name: Lindera benzoin Common Name: spicebush Growth: Perennial shrub, 3 to 9 feet tall, yellow flowers Hardiness: Zone 4b-9a Light: Partial Shade Soil: Rich, acidic to basic soil Water: Mesic, moderately moist Use: Tea, flavoring, medicinal Lindera benzoin fruit Propagation: Seed, clonal via rhizome sprouting, cuttings Photo Wikimedia Commons History Spicebush had multiple medicinal uses Culture In 1783, Carl Peter Thunberg honored by Creek, Cherokee, Rappahannock, Spicebush is primarily an understory Johann Linder (1676-1724), a Swedish Mohegan and Chippewa tribes, who also species found in the wild in open forests botanist and physician, by naming the used the plant to make a beverage and and along forest edges in rich, moder- genus Lindera in honor of him. The to flavor game. It has little commercial ately moist soil and can also be found specific epithetbenzoin is an adaptation value now and can be hard to find in along stream banks. It has a wide grow- of the Middle French benjoin (from nurseries for landscape use. ing range across the country, subject to Arabic luban jawi) literally “Java Frank- winter kill only at the northern extreme incense” and refers to an aromatic of its range. This is an excellent landscape balsamic resin obtained from several Description shrub with multiple season interest. It species of trees in the genus Styrax. In the same family with other aromatic is most spectacular in group plantings shrubs (Laurus nobilis, Cinnamomum The common name for bothLindera spp., Persea spp., and Sassafras spp.) benzoin var.
    [Show full text]
  • Eastern North American Plants in Cultivation
    Eastern North American Plants in Cultivation Many indigenous North American plants are in cultivation, but many equally worthy ones are seldom grown. It often ap- pears that familiar native plants are taken for granted, while more exotic ones - those with the glamor of coming from some- where else - are more commonly cultivated. Perhaps this is what happens everywhere, but perhaps this attitude is a hand- me-down from the time when immigrants to the New World brought with them plants that tied them to the Old. At any rate, in the eastern United States some of the most commonly culti- vated plants are exotic species such as Forsythia species and hy- brids, various species of Ligustrum, Syringa vulgaris, Ilex cre- nata, Magnolia X soulangiana, Malus species and hybrids, Acer platanoides, Asiatic rhododendrons (both evergreen and decidu- ous) and their hybrids, Berberis thunbergii, Abelia X grandi- flora, Vinca minor, and Pachysandra procumbens, to mention only a few examples. This is not to imply, however, that there are few indigenous plants that have "made the grade," horticulturally speaking, for there are many obvious successes. Some plants, such as Cornus florida, have been adopted immediately and widely, but others, such as Phlox stolonifera ’Blue Ridge’ have had to re- ceive an award in Europe before drawing the attention they de- serve here, much as American singers used to have to acquire a foreign reputation before being accepted as worthwhile artists. Examples among the widely grown eastern American trees are Tsuga canadensis; Thuja occidentalis; Pinus strobus (and other species); Quercus rubra, Q. palustris, and Q.
    [Show full text]
  • Lindera Benzoin Spicebush1 Edward F
    FPS-345 Lindera benzoin Spicebush1 Edward F. Gilman2 Introduction Uses: border; naturalizing; foundation; mass planting; attracts butterflies A large shrub, reaching a 10 foot height and spread, Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the spicebush is so named because of its pleasing aroma when region to find the plant bruised (Fig. 1). When planted in a sunny location, spice- bush will turn a lovely yellow in the fall but when grown in the shade will not be as colorful or grow as densely. The flowers are insignificant, and fruits form only on female plants. Figure 2. Shaded area represents potential planting range. Figure 1. Spicebush Description General Information Height: 6 to 10 feet Spread: 6 to 12 feet Scientific name: Lindera benzoin Plant habit: round Pronunciation: lin-DEER-ruh ben-ZOE-in Plant density: dense Common name(s): spicebush Growth rate: slow Family: Lauraceae Texture: medium Plant type: shrub USDA hardiness zones: 4B through 9A (Fig. 2) Foliage Planting month for zone 7: year round Planting month for zone 8: year round Leaf arrangement: alternate Planting month for zone 9: year round Leaf type: simple Origin: native to Florida Leaf margin: entire 1. This document is FPS-345, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date October 1999. Reviewed February 2014. Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2. Edward F. Gilman, professor, Environmental Horticulture Department, UF/IFAS Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611. The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations.
    [Show full text]
  • NLI Recommended Plant List for the Mountains
    NLI Recommended Plant List for the Mountains Notable Features Requirement Exposure Native Hardiness USDA Max. Mature Height Max. Mature Width Very Wet Very Dry Drained Moist &Well Occasionally Dry Botanical Name Common Name Recommended Cultivars Zones Tree Deciduous Large (Height: 40'+) Acer rubrum red maple 'October Glory'/ 'Red Sunset' fall color Shade/sun x 2-9 75' 45' x x x fast growing, mulit-stemmed, papery peeling Betula nigra river birch 'Heritage® 'Cully'/ 'Dura Heat'/ 'Summer Cascade' bark, play props Shade/part sun x 4-8 70' 60' x x x Celtis occidentalis hackberry tough, drought tolerant, graceful form Full sun x 2-9 60' 60' x x x Fagus grandifolia american beech smooth textured bark, play props Shade/part sun x 3-8 75' 60' x x Fraxinus americana white ash fall color Full sun/part shade x 3-9 80' 60' x x x Ginkgo biloba ginkgo; maidenhair tree 'Autumn Gold'/ 'The President' yellow fall color Full sun 3-9 70' 40' x x good dappled shade, fall color, quick growing, Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis thornless honey locust Shademaster®/ Skyline® salt tolerant, tolerant of acid, alkaline, wind. Full sun/part shade x 3-8 75' 50' x x Liriodendron tulipifera tulip poplar fall color, quick growth rate, play props, Full sun x 4-9 90' 50' x Platanus x acerifolia sycamore, planetree 'Bloodgood' play props, peeling bark Full sun x 4-9 90' 70' x x x Quercus palustris pin oak play props, good fall color, wet tolerant Full sun x 4-8 80' 50' x x x Tilia cordata Little leaf Linden, Basswood 'Greenspire' Full sun/part shade 3-7 60' 40' x x Ulmus
    [Show full text]
  • Spicebush, Lindera Benzoin, a Little Known Foodplant of Papilio Glaucus
    10 JOURNAL OF THE LEPIDOPTERISTS' SOCIETY SPICEBUSH, LlNDERA BENZOIN, A LITTLE KNOWN FOODPLANT OF PAPILlO GLAUCUS (PAPILIONIDAE) J. MARK SCRIBER, ROBERT C. LEDERHOUSE, AND LORRAINE CONTARDO Department of Entomology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850 Papilio glaucus L., the eastern tiger swallowtail, is one of the most polyphagous of all Papilionidae, yet documented records of it utilizing lauraceous foodplants are rare. Teitz (1954, 1972) is the only author who reports Lindera benzoin (L.), but we have been unable to locate any such original record from the references he listed. Sassafras albidum ( Nutt.) also is recorded by Edwards (1884), French (1885), Scudder (1889) and Teitz (1954, 1972). These authors have apparently cited either Stauffer (1862) or personal communication of John Akhurst. The larval description (" .... the larva of turnus (which was taken from Sassafras) was pea-green above with a yellow edging, beneath purplish­ brown.") suggests that Stauffer's record is based on a mistaken P. troilus larva. Akhurst records a P. glaucus female ovipositing on Sassafras branches while confined in a box. Five freshly hatched first instal' Papilio glaucus larvae were discovered on leaves of spicebush, Lindera benzoin of the Lauraceae, on Snyder Hill near Thomas Road, Town of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York. This same stand of spicebush yielded P. troilus L. larvae the previous year, although none were found there in 1973. In addition to the P. glaucus larvae found on June 25, 1973, another fertile egg was dis­ covered on July 11. For comparisons with growth rates on other food­ plants (Scriber, in prep.), field growth rates of larvae were observed on spicebush until they reached the late stages of the final instal'.
    [Show full text]
  • New York State Stormwater Managment Design Manual
    Appendix H: Landscaping Guidance/Plant Lists H.1 Ponds and Wetlands For areas that are to be planted within a stormwater pond, it is necessary to determine what type of hydrologic zones will be created within the pond. The following six zones describe the different conditions encountered in stormwater management facilities. Every facility does not necessarily reflect all of these zones. The hydrologic zones designate the degree of tolerance the plant exhibits to differing degrees of inundation by water. Table H.5 at the end of this appendix designates appropriate zones for each plant. There may be other zones listed outside of these brackets. The plant materials may occur within these zones, but are not typically found in them. Plants suited for specific hydrologic conditions may perish when those conditions change, exposing the soil, and therefore, increasing the chance for erosion. Each zone has its own set of plant selection criteria based on the hydrology of the zone, the stormwater functions required of the plant and the desired landscape effect. The hydrologic zones are as follows: Table H.1 Hydrologic Zones Zone # Zone Description Hydrologic Conditions Zone 1 Deep Water Pool 1-6 feet deep Permanent Pool Zone 2 Shallow Water Bench 6 inches to 1 foot deep Zone 3 Shoreline Fringe Regularly inundated Zone 4 Riparian Fringe Periodically inundated Zone 5 Floodplain Terrace Infrequently inundated Zone 6 Upland Slopes Seldom or never inundated Zone 1: Deep Water Area (1- 6 Feet) Ponds and wetlands both have deep pool areas that comprise Zone 1. These pools range from one to six feet in depth, and are best colonized by submergent plants, if at all.
    [Show full text]
  • Chimonanthus Praecox
    Shang et al. Genome Biology (2020) 21:200 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02088-y RESEARCH Open Access The chromosome-level wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) genome provides insights into floral scent biosynthesis and flowering in winter Junzhong Shang1†, Jingpu Tian1†, Huihui Cheng2†, Qiaomu Yan1, Lai Li1, Abbas Jamal1, Zhongping Xu3,4, Lin Xiang1, Christopher A. Saski5, Shuangxia Jin3,4* , Kaige Zhao1*, Xiuqun Liu1* and Longqing Chen6* * Correspondence: [email protected]. edu.cn; [email protected]; Abstract [email protected]; clqhzau@126. com Background: Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox), an important ornamental plant, †Junzhong Shang, Jingpu Tian and has evolved unique fragrant aroma and winter-flowering properties, which are critical Huihui Cheng contributed equally for its successful sexual reproduction. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying to this work. 3National Key Laboratory of Crop these traits are largely unknown in this species. In addition, wintersweet is also a typical Genetic Improvement, Huazhong representative species of the magnoliids, where the phylogenetic position of which Agricultural University, Wuhan, relative to eudicots and monocots has not been conclusively resolved. Hubei 430070, People’s Republic of China Results: Here, we present a chromosome-level wintersweet genome assembly with a 1Key Laboratory of Horticultural total size of 695.36 Mb and a draft genome assembly of Calycanthus chinensis. Plant Biology, Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Phylogenetic analyses of 17 representative angiosperm genomes suggest that Wuhan, Hubei 430070, People’s Magnoliids and eudicots are sister to monocots. Whole-genome duplication Republic of China signatures reveal two major duplication events in the evolutionary history of the 6Southwest Engineering Technology and Research Center of wintersweet genome, with an ancient one shared by Laurales, and a more recent Landscape Architecture, State one shared by the Calycantaceae.
    [Show full text]
  • Sex and the Single Species November 1997
    Sex and the single species November 1997 Suspended in the rainforest canopy some his mind, he renamed the tree Idiospermum twenty metres above the ground, I find australiense, which means “peculiar fruit myself surrounded by a multitude of from Australia”. Today it is simply call small, rose-like flowers hanging amongst the “idiot fruit”. The species is so unique the dark, glossy foliage. Their pleasant, that it is the only species in its genera and fruity perfume permeates the canopy, is the only genus of the family overwhelming the smell of my own sweat Calycanthacea in the southern hemi- and the necessarily liberal doses of sphere. mosquito repellent. Just metres away, trucks, buses and cars rumble down Little is known about the natural history National Route One in an irregular of this unique tree. Researchers have cavalcade, oblivious to the antics of the studied its primitive anatomy, and recently research high above them in the canopy a new chemical called idospermuline was of one of Australia’s rarest and most discovered in its seeds which may prove primitive flowering plants. to be medically useful. Idiospermuline affects transmission of messages between So how did I find myself in this awkward individual nerve cells, and is the chemical and extremely uncomfortable position? To responsible for the seizures in the cattle. answer this, allow me to take you back in Yet, like so many other poisons, in time to 6 June 1902 when the German controlled doses it may be able to save botanist Ludwig Diels disembarked near lives. Although there has been a lot of the confluence of Russell River and laboratory-based work on the idiot fruit, Harvey Creek, about fifty kilometres south not many people have gone out into the of Cairns, just a couple of kilometres from distressingly violent seizures.
    [Show full text]